We'll see how few votes it takes to win a Jersey City council seat: Political Insider

View full sizeJournal photoCouncilwoman Viola Richardson wants to make a point.

More than a dozen people have picked up petitions for November's special Jersey City election for the remaining terms of two at-large council seats. If all of them file their signed petitions for candidacy, with more people expected to toss in their hats and bonnets, and the usual voter apathy, there could be winners with embarrassingly low vote totals.

Why not? Mayor Jerramiah Healy is in power with a miniscule 19,000-plus votes.

The most energetic and dedicated candidates with a strong base of voters can win -- with as low as 3,000 to 5,000 vote totals. I can't see a Jersey City Democratic Party that is under new management and more interested in the November big picture making a difference here. Everyone is more interested in the 2013 city race.

The latest person who says she's running is Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson. Why does she want to run? What's the point when she's already on the council?

R-E-S-P-E-C-T is the reason.

As I have noted in the past, Viola has wanted the at-large post. At one point, Willie Flood, whose seat is now up for grabs, was interested in retiring, but when she learned Richardson wanted her post Flood tried to recruit others to run for her seat. After failing to find her own replacement, rather than give Richardson a shot, Flood continued in office -- only to retire when it became obvious that she needed some help to vote with an occasional tap to the shoulder.

The Healy administration also brushed Richardson off like an unwanted aunt at the Thanksgiving table. To make matters more insulting, at Wednesday's City Council session, newcomer and Flood replacement Kalimah Ahmad was named to replace Richardson on the Jersey City Redevelopment agency's Board of Directors. Of course, there's the possibility that the senior councilwoman wanted out because there was so too much responsibility on the agency panel (one thousand one, one thousand two ... ).

Ahmad was one of the first to announce she was planning to keep her City Council seat, and she and the other appointed at-large council member, Ray Velazquez, who replaced disgraced ex-councilman and felon Mariano Vega, received endorsements from Healy.

The truth is that running in the special election provides no benefit to Richardson, except the pleasure of beating Healy's blessed candidates. One problem is that Healy has little say about who wins.

Both Ahmad and Velazquez are Hudson County employees, assistant counsels. Their allegiances are to Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise and his chief of staff, Bill Gaughan, who is also the city's councilman from the Heights. Right now, as in the past, the county and Healy are on the same page, but this can change dramatically in the future -- say before 2013 -- when the Hudson County Democratic Organization finally admits that Healy is not a viable entity.

What options will DeGise and company have? Could DeGise talk old buddy and ex-mayor Bret Schundler into coming back and challenging Councilman Steven Fulop? It is a nonpartisan election -- but Bret is a reach and someone correctly said you can’t go home again.

As for November, DeGise and company may want to protect their county employees and help out a bit. If Ahmad or Velazquez do win, you'll see Healy latch onto it as proof that he's still relevant.

Don't believe it.

POLITICAL INSIDER

INSIDER NOTE:
-- Just one.

How soon will it be before Velazquez tries to talk former city councilman Jamie Vazquez into dropping out of the election? The incumbent councilman has to be nervous about the fact that a well-known Hispanic -- even if he's a member of the dwindling Puerto Rican community -- with a similar sounding name will take votes away.

Vazquez was fired from his post in the Office of Veterans Affairs. He lost health benefits. This should give Velazquez a clue of what it will take to reduce the number of candidates.